Impersonation of a person or major brand is a real threat to Internet users worldwide, as these kind of events take place far more often than most everyday consumers realize.Especially where social media is concerned, tweeting to the wrong Twitter person is cause for a lot of grief, miscommunication, and hassle. The time has come for properly identifiable handles, usernames, and aliases.
Also read: Twitter Wants Your Date of Birth For Targeted Ads, Time For Decentralized Social Networks?
Not Every Twitter Alias Belongs To The Right Identity
Registering a Twitter username is a great way to stay in touch with friends, family and even customers if you are running a business. However, if someone else has taken your name as a Twitter handle already, problems ensue. Claiming that you are the legitimate person that username should belong to simply won’t fly, and situations like these can and will create confusion down the line.
Famous people, individuals and companies are all affected by other people registering user handles they should be able to use. For example, in the case of major department store John Lewis, the @JohnLewis account on Twitter does not belong to them. The real owner of that mention is Dr. John Lewis, a computer science educator and “not a retail store”.
The same principle applies to major chains such as Heinz, creators of everybody’s favorite ketchup and baked beans. Tweeting to @Heinz will send your message to Heinz Wittenbrink, and not the actual companies, whose Twitter handle is @HJHeinzCompany. As you can see, there is a lot of confusion going on as far as social media is concerned.
It would be better if everybody could get the Twitter handle they desired, but that is not always possible. Granted, every company or individual can approach the current owner of that specific Twitter handle, and propose to “buy” the handle from them. If the current owner declines the offer, the story will end there unfortunately. Finding out somebody’s correct Twitter handle is not easy either, even though the platform shows a list of possible results whenever typing in a username.
Creating a New Form of Social Media Identifier With Blockchain Technology
Twitter remains one of the most used platforms when it comes to social media and promotion to increase brand or individual awareness. However, with the aforementioned problems, a new solution should be developed sooner or later. This is where blockchain technology could play a key role.
Rather than revamping social media altogether, companies such as Twitter could adopt blockchain technology and create additional features for users to connect to the right person directly. Because the blockchain is completely transparent, the technology could even be used to take Twitter’s verified accounts project to a new level. Plus, it might also help improve the results showing up when typing in a Twitter username to connect users on the social platform.
What are your thoughts on miscommunication through Twitter handles? Has it ever occurred, to you, and if so, how would you solve the issue? Let us know in the comments below!
Source: Telegraph UK
Images courtesy of Twitter, Shutterstock, Valuewalk
